Can I Borrow From My Life Insurance Policy?
When you need access to quick money, a life insurance policy loan may be one of the easiest ways to find it. Many life insurance policies provide policyholders with the ability to borrow against the value of their policies. Before using a life insurance policy loan, you need to understand how they work and what is involved with one.
-
How They Work
-
With a life insurance policy loan, you borrow against the cash value of the policy. After a certain amount of time, your life insurance policy may accumulate a cash value. When you make payments to the insurance company, part of your payment goes to the death benefit and part goes into an investment account. Once this amount gets large enough, you could borrow up to a certain percent, depending on the rules of your insurance company.
Which Policies Offer It
-
If you want to borrow against your life insurance, you have to make sure that you have the right type of policy. To borrow through a life insurance policy loan, you have to have a policy that has a cash value. For example, whole life insurance is a permanent kind of insurance that builds cash value over time. Universal and variable life insurance policies are some other examples of policies that you could use. If you have a term life insurance policy, you cannot borrow against it because it only provides policyholders with a death benefit.
-
How to Get a Loan
-
If you have a cash value life insurance policy and you want to pursue a loan, you have to complete the necessary requirements to get access to the money. First, you need to check with your policy to make sure that your insurance company offers loans. If they do, you can then contact the insurance company to start the lending process. Most of the time, you will simply need to fill out a loan request form and send it into the insurance company.
Benefits
-
Using a life insurance policy loan can provide you with some benefits when compared with other types of loans. For example, with a life insurance policy loan, the terms are very flexible. You may not have to make a payment every single month as long as you pay it back within a certain amount of time. Another benefit of this kind of loan is that it does not depend on your credit score. If you have a cash value, you should be able to borrow against it regardless of credit history.
-